We’re back! Welcome to the Celtics’ Top-5 Highest IQ Plays of the Week!
Sure, we love the high-flying dunks and the deep, off-the-dribble step-back threes, but this is a place for the under-the-radar plays that might not get the credit they deserve. The plays that get the basketball sickos and nerds out of their chairs. The plays that even YOU could make in your weekly rec league game.
Each week, the plays will be ranked from five to one—one being the smartest—and will only be taken from games that
occurred within the past week. For this week, games from January 30th to February 5th are considered. The Celtics went 4-0 this week, with wins over the Kings, Bucks, Mavericks, and Rockets. Wednesday night’s win against Houston might’ve been the best win of the entire season.
5. Brad strikes again
Perhaps I’m breaking the rules a bit here, but Brad’s trade-deadline move to acquire Vucevic deserves a place on this list. Not only do the Celtics save money by swapping Simons for the Bulls’ big man (and improve their roster construction flexibility moving forward), but they add some much-needed depth to their front-court and add yet another dimension to what they can do offensively. Queta and Garza both have different skill sets, but neither of them is the spot-up shooter and/or post threat that Nikola is. Despite Vucevic’s defensive limitations, it’s important to note that Simons had his fair share of those, too—not to mention the fact that a 6-foot-9 forward’s defensive drawbacks are easier to hide than they are for a 6-foot-3 guard. This trade gets a stamp of approval from me.
4. Wrong-footed layups
I know I just discussed my satisfaction regarding the Simons-Vucevic swap, but that doesn’t mean Anfernee wasn’t an awesome player for us this year. I enjoyed watching him play this season, especially offensively, and a significant reason was because of plays like this. Simons uses wrong-footed layups so well, and it helps make up for his lack of imposing size at the hoop. On this drive, he is probably going to be contested by both Bobby Portis and Pete Nance, but his premature gather and floater throws off their timing, which allows him to get the layup attempt off scot-free. I’m going to miss Simons and simply HAD to give him one last shout-out before his departure! But I won’t lie, I can’t wait for Vucevic to make his arrival on my highest IQ plays of the week.
3. Screening on the fly
I won’t pretend to know the Celtics’ entire offensive playbook, but I’m pretty sure Neemias Queta—just based on his body positioning and eyes—was supposed to set a high screen for Derrick White on this play. But when he notices Schroder in aggressive gap-help, he changes his trajectory to instead set a flare screen for Pritchard, which totally throws off Sacramento’s defense and results in a wide open three for their best three-point shooter. Queta is getting better by the week, and it’s special to watch.
2. When physical tools and IQ align
Hugo Gonzalez has received his fair share of praise regarding the defensive toughness and versatility he brings from such a young age, and there might be no better example than this play. He sprints back to the paint and positions himself perfectly for Williams’ middle drive while also effectively communicating with Derrick White to execute the peel switch. Then, when White gets faked out by the pass, Hugo aggressively switches out onto Naji Marshall and uses his strength, toughness and length to stymie his drive. He gets a fantastic contest on Marshall’s signature shot—the 5-foot floater. Special stuff from the rookie.
1. Mazzulla running circles around Udoka
Joe Mazzulla literally ran circles around Ime Udoka in the Celtics’ drubbing of the Rockets on Wednesday, and it began with the starting lineup and minutes allocation. There were simply too many plays to reference, so I’m placing the starting lineup here to make my point. Mazzulla started two bigs—Garza and Queta—for the first time all season in an attempt to give us a better chance on the defensive boards against Houston’s aggressive offensive rebounding strategy. And, it worked—the C’s outrebounded the Rockets 57-38 in the game. The big lineup, which included Ron Harper Jr., allowed Neemy to guard Amen Thompson in the paint and clog up drives and mid-ranges for Sengun and Durant. The defensive strategy worked to a tee, so much so that Udoka took out his frustrations on the referees and was ejected. Big time stuff, Joe. Coach of the year.
